ONTD Original: The Dig- A metaphor for human “redundancy” in Covid Times (Ft. POC&Fem Creators)
Click to viewVid #1 description: Archaeologist reviews The Dig’s accuracy
Vid #2 description: Overview of the emotional and spiritual aspects of The Dig
Vid #3 description: Review focusing on its appropriateness for families
Vid #4 description: General review, with criticism of the second act of the movie
Hello ONTD!
I watched The Dig this weekend. While watching it, I first thought “I wonder why a movie like this is being shown right now. It seems so irrelevant and random.” And then I realized that was the whole point of the movie!!! A meta plot twist!!
The movie was all about how what appears redundant and irrelevant at first can actually be important in its own right! Just like the making of this movie!! I’m sure there is a term for this type of story-telling but I just don’t know it. Does anyone know?
Anyway, as someone whose job was made redundant and fired at the beginning of the pandemic, I really related to a number of the characters’ struggles throughout the movie. So I thought I would share some of the parallels that I noticed, and also my recommendation for anyone who experienced job shifts during the pandemic to watch this movie!
Spoiler Warning!!!
[Spoiler (click to open)]
Parallel #1: The whole movie is set against a backdrop of World War 2 but most of the characters have nothing to do with the war and are instead focused on excavating mounds of dirt. The characters frequently wonder about their role in the world and whether or not their work and life have been meaningful.
At the beginning of lockdowns, people fired and made redundant were essentially sent home and told their best contribution would be staying out of the way of healthcare workers and scientists.
Parallel #2: Ralph Fiennes character Basil Brown, spends most of the movie feeling like he will not get credit for his work because he is just an excavator and not a high-ranking archaeologist.
The lowest-paid people of the pandemic like the retail workers and janitors were not thanked and honoured for their service the same way other professionals were. Also, the people fired, laid off, and losing their homes were given very little help and respect while major corporations got huge grants from the government.
Parallel #3: Carey Mulligan’s character, Edith Pretty, is very sickly and is one of the few characters questioning the morals of the war, greed of excavating and disturbing someone’s grave, and is concerned about the worth of every human life.
Greedy people were able to protect themselves during the pandemic, while many of the most vulnerable and caring people were treated as if they were worthless and expendable.
Parallel #4: Johnny Flynn’s character, Rory Lomax, joins the Royal Air Force to fight in the war and witnessed the death of an RAF pilot who was training in a rickety old fighter plane in the middle of the movie.
Laid-off workers were told to get a job in essential industries like retail regardless of the risks to their health. Essential workers weren’t given PPE and were treated like sheep to the slaughter.
Parallel #5: Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan’s characters have an important conversation about mortality and how each human is not really gone when they pass.
A lot of people have died in the past year. This was just a very moving and comforting conversation.
What did you think of The Dig ONTD? Did you relate to the characters’ stories?
Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4